Thursday, January 19, 2012

The Sand-Hill Crane by Mary Austin

Sandhill cranes flying at duskWHENEVER the days are cool and clear,
The sand-hill crane goes walking
Across the field by the flashing weir,
Slowly, solemnly stalking.
The little frogs in the tules hear,
And jump for their lives if he comes near;
The fishes scuttle away in fear
When the sand-hill crane goes walking.

The field folk know if he comes that way,
Slowly, solemnly stalking,
There is danger and death in the least delay,
When the sand-hill crane goes walking.
The chipmunks stop in the midst of play;
The gophers hide in their holes away;
And 'Hush, oh, hush!' the field-mice say,
When the sand-hill crane goes walking.


15 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

These cranes were so cool to see the other day. There were thousands of them in the skies all around us. I absolutely LOVED the experience at the Whitewater Draw in Arizona. Beautiful birds!

Jidhu Jose said...

love ur shot and lines


My Skywatch

Dianne said...

Beautifully captured and beautifully written. We don't have these birds in our area but from the photo they remind me of snow geese.

"Adelaide and Beyond"

EG CameraGirl said...

Super shot of the birds in flight.

Carolyn Ford said...

wonderful warm light on that flock of birds...awesome capture!

Annemor said...

The cranes..
I like it.

Monica S Engell said...

Wonderful captured!

Melbourne Australia Photos said...

Beautiful post - both image and words!

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous!

K Soucy said...

Wow! What a great photo.

LadyFi said...

Another beautiful shot!

TheChieftess said...

Great capture!!! Love it!

When I first saw it I thought it was flamingoes!!! Recently I had the opportunity to be in the Galapagos Islands and actually got a photo of a flamingo in flight...when I saw this one I thought, damn! Lucky guy got a flock!!! Still lucky to get this capture!!!

Powell River Books said...

They sure stretch out when they fly. - Margy

Kay L. Davies said...

You've illustrated this lovely poem perfectly. I love the way the light touches the birds...glorious!

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Oh thesy are such beautiful creatures. Where do you view them at? I went to Hawassi last week and saw thousands of them. If you can stop by and look up the 4 entries on my Sandhill Cranes on sidebar. Have a wonderful weekend~